The planning school versus the learning school in new venture creation : in South Africa

Abstract

Over the past few years an intense debate has emerged with regard to the value of business planning for an entrepreneur, when launching a new business. The debate concerns the crucial question that all entrepreneurs and company founders face when embarking on the process of launching a new venture. The predicament that so many entrepreneurs and company founders face is whether to plan before embarking on the priceless quest for venture success or not to plan and rather to embark on the new venture in the hope it will succeed. The purpose of this study is to examine both schools of thought and then to explore if in actual fact business planning has an effect on the growth rate of an entrepreneurial venture.